The Supreme Court and health care reform: pleas and predictions

By Paul Wilson

ProducersWEB

For months, we’ve been trying to get our readers to speak up about health care reform and make their predictions on the Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling. For the most part we’ve heard … crickets. With the Court hearing arguments on the health care reform law this week and likely to provide a ruling in June, we’re asking, no begging, for your thoughts.

And we’re not the only ones desperate for feedback and conversation. Check out these excerpts from a comment posted by member Steve Forman way back in December:

Come on, people! Isn't anyone going to be brave (foolhardy) enough to publicly make a prediction about the Supreme Court's ruling?... We're just trying to read tea leaves here, and our opinions aren't the ones which ultimately matter, so I'll hazard a guess ... I predicted several months ago that the "individual mandate" would be overturned, and I stand by that.

I've said it before, the "individual mandate" to purchase health insurance will be struck down. It's been argued from a few different positions, but I think this comes down to a party-line vote.

Severability is a fascinating question. I think the "individual mandate" is inseparable from a great many portions of PPACA, but certainly not all: remember, it's a very sweeping Act.

It's funny, if you go back and read the news from several years ago, the main impetus for HealthCare Reform was trimming the number of uninsured. That was Priority #1. But PPACA does a pretty shabby job...its main weapon is expanding Medicaid (a bankrupt program). Two of its primary cost savings (cutting Medicare payments to physicians, and CLASS Act) have already fallen through in less than a year. Of course, the Court won't be voting based on what's "prescriptive" or "logical"; they'll be looking at law, something I'm not too familiar with. Still, I bet they throw this one out, too.

Let’s be honest, this is huge and everyone has an opinion. And speaking of opinions, here are a few that I found around the Web:

A panel of experts convened by Politico recently predicted that the Supreme Court will uphold PPACA.

"The government isn't standing here saying, 'We have the power to make you buy things you don't want to buy,'" said former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal. "The government's point is everyone consumes health care."

And this op-ed in the New York Times says, “By arguing against severability, the Obama administration — and the law’s opponents, who are making an even more radical claim — is urging the Supreme Court to abandon its tradition of judicial restraint, to ignore longstanding precedents and to undermine the separation of powers.”

Why not jump in and tell us what you think? Write a comment below or, even better, post a blog. We know you’re talking about it anyway, but we provide a much bigger soap box.

And if you’re looking for a good place to stay updated on the latest, visit ProducersWEB’s page on PPACA and the Supreme Court. And be sure to check out tweets from our sister site LifeHealthPro.com reporting live from D.C. @lifehealthpro.